The Federal Employee Survival Blog

Cut through the jargon and get the clarity you need to stay a step ahead of agency politics. Each article unpacks new policy shifts, court rulings, and workplace trends, then turns them into actionable tactics—so you can head off discipline, invoke EEO or whistleblower protections with confidence, and keep your documentation airtight. We also archive our most popular social-media explainer threads here, giving you the same insights followed by more than 150,000 people online even if you never scroll on those sites. Read, prepare, and keep your federal career firmly in your control.

 
OPM Performance Appraisal Rule: Key Risks for Feds collective bargaining federal employment mspb performance appraisals whistleblower protection Feb 26, 2026

On February 24, 2026, OPM published a proposed rule that could significantly reshape how federal employees are rated, rewarded, and disciplined. Comments are due by March 26, 2026. While this is not f...

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AFGE Wins HUD Telework Arbitration Case afge collective bargaining federal employment flra telework rights Feb 20, 2026

Federal employees received significant news this week: AFGE Council 222 secured a class-wide arbitration win requiring HUD to restore routine telework agreements that were rolled back during a broad r...

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FLRA General Counsel and Federal Union Rights collective bargaining federal employment federal unions flra unfair labor practice Feb 18, 2026

If you are a federal employee in a bargaining unit, the nomination of a new General Counsel for the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) is not abstract politics. It goes directly to whether your ...

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OPM Union Contract Terminations: What Feds Must Know collective bargaining federal discipline federal employment mspb appeals union representation Feb 17, 2026

If you are a bargaining unit employee who relies on your union for discipline defense or grievance protection, recent guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) deserves close attention.

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HHS Telework Order Blocked by Arbitration Ruling collective bargaining federal employment flra return to office telework rights Jan 22, 2026

Federal employees received a notable reality check this week: a presidential return-to-office memo does not automatically override negotiated union contracts. In a significant arbitration decision, th...

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TSA Blocked from Ending Union Rights by Federal Judge collective bargaining federal employment injunctions mspb & grievances tsa union rights Jan 16, 2026

For Transportation Security Officers and other TSA bargaining-unit employees, a recent federal court order delivered a rare moment of clarity—and accountability. A judge found that TSA leadership “pla...

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Can Executive Orders Erase Federal Union Rights? collective bargaining executive orders federal employment mindfulness at work union rights Jan 14, 2026

Federal employees are once again caught in the middle of a high-stakes legal fight over collective bargaining—and this one reaches far beyond any single agency or union. This week, the American Federa...

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TSA Union Contracts and the Risk of Agency Whiplash collective bargaining federal employment federal unions tsa labor rights workplace mindfulness Dec 15, 2025

Federal employees expect their workplace rights to operate like guardrails—not like a light switch that flips on and off depending on who is in charge. Yet Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) are ...

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Can Congress Restore Federal Union Rights in 2025? collective bargaining executive orders federal employment federal unions mspb appeals Dec 12, 2025

Federal employees across several agencies felt the shift almost immediately this year: bargaining tables went quiet, contracts suddenly felt fragile, and management decisions began landing as announce...

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Federal Unions After the Discharge Petition: What This Means for You collective bargaining federal employment federal unions mspb appeals workplace rights Nov 17, 2025

For the first time in years, a bipartisan majority of the House has signed a discharge petition forcing a vote on the Protect America’s Workforce Act—legislation aimed at undoing the sweeping executiv...

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NASA Union Rights Lawsuit Tests Presidential Power collective bargaining federal employment labor rights nasa employees national security orders Oct 16, 2025

Last week, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) filed a second lawsuit against the administration—this time over NASA. In March, the President invoked a rarely ...

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Judge Blocks Trump Order Stripping Federal Union Rights collective bargaining federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals union rights Oct 01, 2025

On September 30, 2025, federal employees won an important reprieve. Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for D.C. issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s effort t...

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